[16384]

i figured if i posted this in newb tech, i'd get moved over here, so, sorry if this is a little dumb

i've searched steering and crossover etc and there is a whole lotta shit i waded thru but cant really find what i'm looking for.

here we go: buddy of mine got an 84 pickup and we're thinking rears up front with aal's and trooper springs out back. i read that with that much flex up front, the steering can be ripped apart very easily. what setup would be cheapest and easiest, or will stock w/ a dropped dl be fine for now. he'll be doing mostly local muddy trails but we'll hit up uwharrie and maybe tellico eventually. he's gonna run cheap 35's for now and step up a bit later as money permits.

i havent really been able to find out exactly what crossover steering is. i know hysteer puts everything above the springs, and crossover leaves the tr under. and I guess you need an ifs box for either, right? would crossover be better than hysteer since we're gonna be setting the front axle forward?

we're trying to do this on the cheap, so any junkyard tricks will be fine. buddy is a machinist by trade, so making stuff will be fairly easy.

feel free to post up links; measurements and specifics are much appreciated. thanks

paul

 

[Dirty Harry]

The stock steering is push-pull, similar to what was used on solid axle Chevy trucks. The drag link runs forward and back, parallel to the frame rail. A dropped drag link will account for LIFT, but when the rig flexes the distance between the frame (steering box) and axle (steering arm) is increased or decreased, and since the drag link is a fixed length the wheels will turn.

Push pull steering box:

With crossover steering, the drag link goes to the passenger side knuckle. Now it is operating on the same plane as the axle, so it is not as susceptible to axle movement causing bump steer. Crossover results in a much longer drag link also, which results in a shallower steering angle.

IFS/Crossover steering box:

You "could" make your own crossover steering, but by the time you buy tie rod ends and jam nuts, build the drag link and tie rod, and mill steering arms, you would be money ahead to just buy the steering from an aftermarket vendor like All-Pro or Marlin Crawler. Not sure how big of a hurry you are in, but All-Pro's steering seems to go on sale from time to time if you can wait.

 

[4RnrRick]

This is what you will need to run rears up front properly.....

Set of first gen rears and some aditionals leafs with stock front spring hangers are okay.
OR
Set of late model rear springs and some additional leafs with a aftermarket hanger so it can be positioned farther forward.

U-bolt flip would be nice to add, but not required.
High steer Crossover steering arms.
Stock tie rod and ends can be reused but fj-80 ends and heavy duty tie rod would be nice to addition.
IFS steering box and some 1/4"plate, sleeves and bolts to attach to the frame.
Remove OEM torque rod and stabilizer from axle.
Stock IFS Pitman arm can be used if you perchace Sky's drag link adapter.
New drag link and a FJ-80 tie rod end.
3/8" spacer plate for driver side perch should also be added to make front of truck level, again not require but nice to do now.
Ford shock mounts and long shocks are recommend but again not required.
Longer brake lines or doubling up brake lines is OKAY.
Front driveline will have to be reworked to accomidate moving the axle forward and the adition flex - I would recommend to square tube it.
Last but not least, some 1 1/2 - 2 1/2" longer bommereang shackles.

I think that covers it. I would personally recommend going/calling www.Sky-Manufacturing.com for these components and a friendly person to talk to about how to do this if you are unsure.

Other worthy companys are MarlinCrawler, Front Range Offroad, OTT industries and All-Pro Offroad.

 

[16384]

dunno about squaring the front, we will be hitting the beach alot, and probably some road use 4x in the shittiest of weather.

for the frontsprings we'll be using a mix of stock rears and junkyard waggies with a drop hanger and longer shackles. are the boomerangs neccessary? we were just gonna make some.

thanks so far for the replies.

 

[4RnrRick]

if your doing a custom hanger then boomerang shackles are probably not nessecary, it all depends on your spring eye location and if a straight shackle can be used without it hitting the body mount.

 

[suv]

All hi steer kits I've seen only allow you to move the front axle forward about 3" before the tie rod and draglink hit each other (unless you ninja-fab the steering box farther forward into the body mount). Standard crossover lets you go as far as you want. Mine is 4" forward and not even close to having problems.

As far as junkyard fixes, I built my crossover for $160 plus the box. Have a custom arm welded up for the passenger knuckle: $100 (can buy these for $200 from allpro). Have pitman arm balljoint reworked to accept the male TRE of the draglink $50...even better just use part of the IFS draglink when building your own. Sleeved stock tie rod, $10 for tubing...I used some black gas pipe, fit perfectly. Shortened and sleeved another stock tierod for a draglink.

Here's the custom arm:

Tie rod and draglink:

 

[16384]

sweet setup you got there suv, thats probably the route we'll try to go.

thakns again